Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart by John Guy: A Book Review

Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart
Author: John Guy
Genre: Nonfiction, Biography, History
Publisher: Mariner Books
Release Date: 2004
Pages: 608
Source: Personal Collection
Synopsis: In the first full-scale biography of Mary Stuart in more than thirty years, John Guy creates an intimate and absorbing portrait of one of history’s greatest women, depicting her world and her place in the sweep of history with stunning immediacy. Bringing together all surviving documents and uncovering a trove of new sources for the first time, Guy dispels the popular image of Mary Queen of Scots as a romantic leading lady — achieving her ends through feminine wiles — and establishes her as the intellectual and political equal of Elizabeth I.

Through Guy’s pioneering research and superbly readable prose, we come to see Mary as a skillful diplomat, maneuvering ingeniously among a dizzying array of factions that sought to control or dethrone her. Queen of Scots is an enthralling, myth-shattering look at a complex woman and ruler and her time.

Note: Awards for this novel: Winner of the Whitbread Award for Biography and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist

My Review: Mary, Queen of Scots has captured many imaginations today. Indeed, the latest historical tv drama, Reign, focuses on the young life of Mary, Queen of Scots. She is portrayed in history as a femme fatale who uses her beauty and charms and manipulates those around her to get the throne of England. She is also portrayed as a failed ruler whose country would have been better had she never been queen at all. However, in John Guy’s biography of Mary, Queen of Scots portrays her as a woman of intelligence, and was educated and trained to rule her country skillfully enough. She tries to incorporate her Renaissance ideals into her reign and on Scotland, only to be met with great hostility from the powerful Protestant nobles of her court who plot to dethrone her because she is a woman and a Catholic. Mary then must use her wits to maneuver her way through the labyrinth of a plethora of conspiracies that wish her downfall to try to be Scotland’s successful queen.

Mary, Queen of Scots was queen at only six days old when her father James V died in battle against the English. Because Mary was too young to rule, and because it was dangerous to stay in Scotland, Mary’s mother and regent of Scotland, Marie of Guise, sends her to France to live with the royal family. At the French court, she was immersed in Renaissance culture and had a great education where she studied the classics. As a teenager she married the dauphin of France, Francis II, and eventually she became queen of France. After Francis II died, she decided to be go back to Scotland and rule her country rather than staying. However, once she arrived in Scotland, Mary is met with enemies, one of those who is the leader of the Protestant Reformation, John Knox. Across the Scottish border, Mary also has another enemy, Elizabeth I. Mary then strives to fight to assert her reign over Scotland.

Overall, this is a sympathetic account of Mary, Queen of Scots. Her reign is filled with betrayal, murder, religion dominance, and political intrigue. Although the book is very readable, it can be dry at times. It tends to tell every detail of Mary, Queen of Scots’s everyday life. However, it has a very detailed account about the mystery of the murder of Lord Darnley. The book also answers all the questions of Mary, Queen of Scots. I recommend this book to those who are interested in learning about Mary, Queen of Scots, the Elizabethan, Tudor, and the Renaissance era.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post by Allison Pataki: A Book Review

The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post Author: Allison Pataki Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Ballantine Release Date: February 15, 2022 Pages: 381 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Mrs. Post, the President and First Lady are here to see you. . . . So begins another average evening for Marjorie Merriweather Post. Presidents have come and gone, but she has hosted them all. Growing up in the modest farmlands of Battle Creek, Michigan, Marjorie was inspired by a few simple rules: always think for yourself, never take success for granted, and work hard—even when deemed American royalty, even while covered in imperial diamonds. Marjorie had an insatiable drive to live and love and to give more than she got. From crawling through Moscow warehouses to rescue the Tsar’s treasures to outrunning the Nazis in London, from serving the homeless of the Great Depression to entertaining Roosevelts, Kennedys, and Hollywood’s biggest stars, Marjorie Merriweath

Before the Alamo by Florence Byham Weinberg: A Book Review

Before the Alamo Author: Florence Byham Weinberg Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Maywood House Release Date: 2021 Pages: 299 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Emilia Altamirano, Tejana, half Native American, half Spanish, is the daughter of a Royalist officer who fought against Mexico's independence in the Battle of the Medina River. Growing up in Bexar de San Antonio, she becomes literate, is adopted as a ward of José Antonio Navarro, and acts as a page in the Ayuntamiento (City Council). She serves as a nurse in the Battle of the Alamo but survives to face an uncertain future. My Review: Before the Alamo chronicles the events prior to the Battle of the Alamo from a tejana’s perspective, a Texan woman of Spanish descent. Emilia is the daughter of a wealthy Spaniard and a Native American slave. She becomes a ward to Jose Antonio Navarro, a Texas war hero. Jose teaches Emilia to read and write. Under his tutelage, she becomes

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry that Forged the Medieval World by Shelley Puhak: A Book Review

The Dark Queens: The Bloody Rivalry that Forged the Medieval World Author: Shelley Puhak Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Bloomsbury Release Date: February 22, 2022 Pages: 378 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: The remarkable, little-known story of two trailblazing women in the Early Middle Ages who wielded immense power, only to be vilified for daring to rule. Brunhild was a foreign princess, raised to be married off for the sake of alliance-building. Her sister-in-law Fredegund started out as a lowly palace slave. And yet-in sixth-century Merovingian France, where women were excluded from noble succession and royal politics was a blood sport-these two iron-willed strategists reigned over vast realms, changing the face of Europe. The two queens commanded armies and negotiated with kings and popes. They formed coalitions and broke them, mothered children and lost them. They fought a decades-long civil war-against each ot

History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

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